


One Shots - Avengers Edition

by Dark_Phoenix20



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Actor Chris Evans, Blind Date, Car Accidents, Character Death, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Hydra (Marvel), Kissing, Mutant Reader, Near Death Experiences
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27694529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Phoenix20/pseuds/Dark_Phoenix20
Summary: Requests are open feel free to ask for whatever you want.Main pairings for me are. (In the order given)1) Steve Rogers x Reader2) Clint Barton x Reader3) Tony Stark x ReaderSometimes1) James 'Rhodey' Rhodes x Reader2) Sam Wilson x Reader
Relationships: Avengers Team & Reader, Chris Evans (Actor)/Reader, Clint Barton/Reader, James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Reader, Sam Wilson (Marvel)/Reader, Steve Rogers/Reader, Thor (Marvel)/Reader, Tony Stark & Reader, Wanda Maximoff & Reader
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

Requests are open !


	2. I Can't Lose You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Steve came to Peggy's funeral it was visible he cried a lot.  
> His eyes were red, nose puffy and lower lip swollen. You could see through him and find nothing but blankness. He had lost all sense now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
> Key: Viditi - Your Name  
> Inspiration: https://www.instagram.com/p/CHPUL6DgpFQ/?igshid=1709yso110tmh

Steve tried to calm himself down. He will ask her out today no matter what. He wasn’t prepared for what was to come. Barely calming his nerves down he collided into Natasha Romanoff in the hallway. Tear filled eyes stared back at him. Something had to be damn wrong to make the Black Widow cry. Eyeing the flowers in Steve’s hands, half of her didn’t want to tell him but he deserved to know it. 

“Viditi.” That one word was enough to make his blood run cold. “She-she had gone in for that extraction mission to India but the whole goddamn compound caved onto her and she-she-she didn’t make it out in time. I am very sorry Steve.” It couldn’t be. No no no, NO! He couldn’t believe that but he knew it was true. Flowers fell to one side, his body to the other collapsing to the floor. Peggy death was still fresh and it felt like someone just ripped his heart out. Handling himself when Peggy had died was hard enough but Viditi, he couldn’t take that much sorrow in his heart. 

Sam who happened to be leaving his room for the same purpose as Natasha caught sight of them in the hallway. He knelt near him gesturing for the Widow to leave, she quietly nodded and got up as Sam helped the blonde super soldier get up. He cried his eyes out once reaching the room. After a few hours, he thought about all those beautiful memories he had snatched with her. A night below the stars, watching that movie with all the other Avengers but all that mattered was her. His mind reeled back to the time when she had danced.

_He happened to be listening to some Mexican music that day when she just walked by in an oversized hoodie along with pink shorts that reached her mid-thighs with black round-rimmed glasses and long hair tied into a messy bun. She looked utterly cute but thirst inducing at the same time. Stopping to listen to the beats, she just started dancing with an expressionless face as he gaped at her and after some time she just dropped it and smiled that beautiful smile of hers that had him melting into a puddle._

_That night he had caught her with a blanket going to the garden at midnight. She invited him to sit with her after catching sight of Steve. The reflection of a thousand stars in her grey eyes was more beautiful than in reality._

At dinner, the team gave their best efforts to try and comfort the Captain but in vain. He felt hollow. An aching hole in the middle of his chest. He tried but lost everything he ever loved. Bucky. Peggy. And now Viditi. It couldn’t get any worse for him. Nat told him that she had loved him dearly. Nat was her best friend. She knew it. Later he was also told that none of her was discovered in the wreckage. No comms. No pieces of fabric or her suit. Not even her body was found. He went to bed feeling empty. Devoid of any emotion. How could a woman have that much of an effect on him? Sleep didn’t come to him easily but when it came it bought nightmares with it. 

He couldn’t save her not even in his dream. He couldn’t protect anything. He ran and left everything. 

He woke up with a start, cold beads of sweat coating his forehead as he tried to calm his laboured breathing. 

Steve realised it was almost dawn so he tried to clear his mind by going on a run but everything reminded him of her. The sunrise she liked to sketch. The small tree by the lake she used to sit under. The bench they had ice - cream on. Even her laugh echoed in his ears. Soon Sam joined him and his mind was taken off her for some time though she still stayed in the back of his mind tugging like a painful memory. _She would want him to move on. Not dwell on the past. On her._

A funeral was held a few days later. They buried an empty coffin in the attendance of fellow Avengers, Maria Hill and Nick Fury. Steve’s eyes lacked the usual glimmer. He lost his high held stature and that giddy optimism. When Steve came to Viditi's funeral it was visible he cried a lot. 

His eyes were red, nose puffy and lower lip swollen. You could see through him and find nothing but blankness. He had lost all sense now.

  
  


Every day he would go visit her grave with flowers or would talk to her even though she wasn’t there. Sometimes Sam or Natasha would go with him under that Willow tree where she was buried. 

2 months later Steve has completely lost all sense of happiness. Agonizing pain is what he feels. Nightmares plague his nights and he ceases to emerge out of his room. 

It was a balmy August morning on her birthday. _She would’ve liked the weather and a party if there was one,_ Steve thought. The Avengers compound was silent except the chirping of birds and the quiet hum of a summer breeze. The bell echoed through the walls out of the blue startling everybody who was in the various states of laziness excluding Steve who still decided to drown in his sorrows alone. Bucky, who was sharpening his blades with Natasha on the couch, went over to the gate to see who was there and Natasha leaned forward out of curiosity to see who it was. A girlish scream rang throughout the rooms causing the resident Avengers to stumble out to see what the commotion was about. 

The cause of this noise pollution (Ms Bucky Barnes) stood there frozen, his jaw threatening to crash on to the floor when Natasha literally squealed with utter joy and ran out to hug the person. Steve decided to pop out and see what was the deal and then his beautiful blue eyes stretched to the size of dinner plates when he saw that dark chestnut brown coloured head peeking out the door frame. He could never forget her. Those ombre waves that framed her face, those stormy grey eyes filled with energy enough to light up the country. Staggering out his room, the Captain dashed down the stairs and pushed his fellow Avengers out of his way who was absolutely delighted to have their friend back. She turned towards him and smiled. That small twinkle which made his legs weak. He fell to his knees and supported his head over his hands when Viditi came towards him and knelt before him to hold his hands. Steve sobbed and the Avengers slowly dispersed to give them some space while he was still crying over her reappearance.

Gentle hands pulled his face up and her melodic voice sounded in his ears. “It’s okay. I am here now. Don’t worry Steve.” He looked into her eyes, crushed her against his muscular chest and kissed her. All those feelings they had been harbouring since years flooded to the surface. He twisted himself so that she was laying on his lap and cradled her against himself clutching her to him. He released her from the kiss but made no move to loosen their embrace. “I love you Viditi. Please don’t ever leave me again. I can’t stand the thought of losing you.” She stared at him fondly feeling regretful that her disappearance had turned this man into a husk of his former self. “I love you too, Steve. I am sorry but I had to.” She got up and pulled him with her towards the staircase to take him to his room. He just clutched her tighter and hung on to her like she would run off again. Whatever happened to him his room still stayed clean just a tad bit dirty. She sat down on the bed, patting her lap which leads to Steve setting his head on her thighs and sighed contently. His shuddering breath indicated that he would cry to her. “Steve. I’m here and I am never leaving. Cry out your worries, It’s okay.” And he did. He cried his heart out holding her happily. She whispered sweet nothings and reassurances in his ear as he started to calm down slowly. For hours he wailed and she listened. He had sustained trauma. It would take time and she would be there. After he finally slept when Viditi sang to him, she sighed in content. _I’ll never leave him._

After some time she slipped from his room to talk to the others. They would need to know what happened. She called F.R.I.D.A.Y. who sounded happy on seeing Viditi, to gather all the Avengers in the living area. Quickly they gathered around to hear what she had to say. 

Wanda and Natasha reached first with Bucky, Peter Parker and Tony. She gave them a sad smile and for the first time, they saw her injuries. Not too glaring but still looked bad. A cut on her right cheek, a gash on her left elbow, a slight limp in her walk and cut on her hairline. She looked tired. Her injuries had to be very bad after that compound collapsed since they were still visible. Natasha rushed forward to hug the woman who she could call a sister. Wanda, Bucky and Tony joined them as Bruce, Clint, Pietro, Vision, Rhodey, Thor, Loki and Sam came in pairs. There were a million questions on their minds but Bruce voiced the prominent ones. “How? We thought you were dead, Viditi” She looked at all of them, took a deep breath and explained. “I am sorry. I had to lay low for a while ‘cause they were still on my tail after seeing I was alive. I finally threw them off but some found me and I had to fight so these,” She pointed to her wounds before continuing, “got reopened so I decided that it was enough time away from home.” She smiled softly at them and hugged her one by one, even Loki. “I am incredibly pleased to see you, Viditi”.Thor looked joyful while Peter looked relieved so she had pulled that kid into an embrace. Thor caught her in a bone-crushing which she appreciated “Where were you though?” Nat still enquired. “Well I had to relocate to Jaipur for some time and Tony ? We have to go there sometime.” The man in question laughed before pointing out, “Ever the optimist. Speaking of it, where is Steve ?” She informed that he had slept. After that, she left with Bruce to get her injuries tended to and promptly returned to Steve’s room to comfort him when he woke up. After Fury and Hill got to know about her, they came to the compound and met her. She was their favourite after all. 

His emotional recovery would have taken a few months but with the help of her, Wanda, Loki and the other Avengers’ support, they could do it in roughly a month. Nightmares left his sleep and she joined them. He slept with her every night. They sketched together. They cooked together while Loki and Wanda did their best to slowly ease his recovery. The coffin they had buried was unearthed and her tomb unturned. 

A winter later, the Avengers accompanied by Nick Fury and Maria Hill stood on the beach in a carefree mood as Viditi and Steve shared their vows. Natasha and Tony felt honoured to be the Maid of Honor and Best Man respectively. He kissed his wife but a bullet shot rang out through the clear evening. Alarm shot through everyone and pain through Steve as he held the bloody body of dying his new bride in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments make my day


	3. I am here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's long since given up on hope in the aftermath of the battle with Thanos.   
> But Steve's there to remind her that it's still salvegable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm back. My updates will not be punctual because I have my exams right now so forgive me and enjoy.

Amidst the aftermath of the Snap’s destruction, things were a complete mess. Y/N found it hard to do so much as to get up in the morning when the world had stopped moving forward—what was the point of waiting up for something that would never come?

Most nights she slid into bed hoping she’d never wake up again and yet, she did wake up—in the early hours of the morning. And despite it all, she kept going. She kept it together, pushed yourself to make it through the day because you knew that nobody else would do it for you.

You hardly ever got any quality sleep. If you were lucky, you’d get a solid two or three uninterrupted hours, and five was unheard of. You were falling—and Steve, being as observant as he was, noticed.

He noticed how she’d lost the light to your face. She no longer glowed as she used to when she was fully engaged in a conversation or when she was happy. Happy. He hadn’t seen her happy in months. Her smile, that is, if she smiled at all, never reached her eyes. It was rather easy for him to differentiate a fake one from a real one—and he could tell she was struggling to maintain the façade.

Steve felt guilty. Here she was, doing everything she could to stay afloat and pouring her heart and soul into keeping everyone else on the team happy and healthy but she never found time to take care of herself. He wanted to help. Seeing the woman he’d known for as long as he could remember slowly fall apart broke him—and the fact that there was little to nothing he could do about it only made it worse.

It was another one of those late nights for Y/N. Natasha had tried to talk her out of helping her, but the pure exhaustion in her eyes was evident—so she’d convinced her to go to bed (she knew Nat hadn’t done slept in days) and took over.

Rhodey had a solemn look on his face as she pulled up his hologram. “Hey, Y/N…where’s Nat? Are you guys alright?”

“Yeah…how about you? Where are you right now?”

“Mexico. The Federales found a room full of bodies,” he answered with his arms crossed over his chest, “it looks like a bunch of cartel guys…never even had the chance to get their guns off.”

“It’s probably a rival gang, then,” She shrugged.

“Except it isn’t. It’s definitely Barton. What he’s done here, what he’s been doing for the past few years…the scene that he left…I gotta tell you, there’s a part of me that doesn’t even wanna find him.”

She was silent for a moment as she comprehended his words. “Will you find out where he’s going next, check-in when you hear something?” She looked at him hopefully. “Please? We can’t just…we can’t just give up now.”

"Alright, I’ll let you know,” he said with a sigh, before disappearing from the room.

Her gut instinct was to call Steve, but before she could find her hand on the phone, she pulled it back. He was probably busy at the moment— she didn’t want to burden him any further when he already had enough on his mind. Steve had started a support group to help those cope who couldn’t. She could see him finding little joy with what was and helping people. She couldn’t ruin that.

Placing her hands on the edges of the desk, she pushed herself out of the seat and got up. She grabbed a glass out of the pantry and decided to pour herself a cup of cold water to clear her head, ignoring the sharp hunger pangs in her stomach that told her it really had been forever since she’d last had a proper meal that wasn’t three cups of coffee and half a banana. And that had been four days ago.

She was often too busy drowning in your thoughts to focus on anything else. And that was when the panic attacks hit. Most of the times she calmed herself but others she couldn’t control and wailed in her room thankful for the soundproof walls. Like today.

Out of nowhere, she’s hit with a splitting migraine that has her struggling to stay standing upright and suddenly the world is spinning and everything is blurring together suffocating her. As if it was going in slow motion, the glass fell out of your hand and shattered into a million tiny crystalline fragments upon hitting the floor, and she sank down with it. 

She felt the sharp edges digging into the palms of her hands and the bottoms of her feet and it stung, but compared to what she’d been through in the past, it was nothing. The metallic smell of blood overwhelmed her senses. The tears kept coming and coming and your head was hurting, her body ached immensely—everything hurt. 

For about an hour she just sat there and the tears kept flowing. The pain in her body turned numb to the point she couldn’t feel anything. She had no idea when she passed out.

Steve, who had been with his support group, quietly entered the compound and immediately stopped in his tracks when he reached the kitchen.

“…Viditi?”

She didn’t respond, just sat there lifelessly with a pale body and the sight sent daggers through his heart. She had a panic attack and he wasn’t there. Crimson stains cover her white shirt and the floor in a small puddle. That’s when he noticed the swirling mixture of water and blood on the ground beside the shards of glass.

Disregarding the complete kitchen disaster around him, he carefully kneels down next to her and gathers the woman in his arms. She looks so frail. A husk of her former self. It kills him to see angry red scars on her hands and feet where the glass cut her. 

Entering his bedroom he lays her unconscious body on the bed and tends to her injuries. As he picks the glass out of her skin, Steve notices her health deteriorating slowly. Her cheeks have lost colour, her eyes look sunken and her figure thin. How can she still look beautiful?

After he is done with bandaging her legs, he sits beside the bed entwining their hands together. His soul feels melancholy looking at Y/N’s face, asking the same question again and again. _ How could he let this happen to her? How could he not be observant enough to notice?  _

He is so tangled in his thoughts that he fails to notice her stir. Her grip tightens on his hand and glossy Y/E/C eyes glance up at him. A grateful smile plays at her lips. “Don’t leave me.” Tears well up in her eyes again.

“It’s okay, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, doll.” He whispers holding her like a lifeline. 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

He removes her bandages once the next day to redress her wounds. They are sitting in his room again on the bed after eating dinner. He wasn’t gonna let her miss a meal now. 

He dips a cotton boll into the small bowl of alcohol on the counter, starting to gently dab on the cuts scattered across her knuckles and cheeks. Steve wants to ask why she was in such a state yesterday when he found her, but he knows better than to pry. He knows that before anything else, he’s supposed to be there for her —to listen.

“I miss them,” she mumbled from nowhere.

“I know. I miss them too.”

She glanced up at him with tear-filled eyes, and his heart shatters all over again. “Do you think we could get them back?“

“Of course. There’s always hope.”

“…You really think so?”

“Ever since you came into my life, I never stopped. Hoping, that is.” Steve cleared his throat. “If we can find a reason to keep going, then I don’t see why we can’t achieve anything we want.”

She smiled at his words, and he reached up to gingerly wipe away any of her tears. When his hand finds its place against her cheek, she places her hand over it—and let it stay.

She had been ready to go. She was planning to leave for good but seeing his piercing yet gentle blue eyes and breathtaking smile pushed her to stay. If she couldn’t keep going for herself, she had to at least do it for him.


	4. Drabbles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. I just decided to add some drabbles I wrote during my Maths class instead of trigonometry. 
> 
> They are in picture form hope you like it.

“I love you, Steve.

But I’m sorry.”

He could do nothing

but scream as the 

building collapsed

taking her with it. 


	5. Sorry

“Sorry doll but remember,

I love you.” She cried

and screamed, yet 

couldn’t do a thing 

as the flames erupted 

from the plane and it 

crashed into the water.


	6. Pain

Her throat hurts, 

her limbs ache, 

yet she holds 

the broken fragments 

of her heart, 

hoping for help, for him.


	7. Numbness

The feel of her skin 

is cold but then a 

thousand emotions 

flood his heart just 

as the flat line of her 

heart monitor breaks the silence


	8. I'll Always Be There For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even the strongest people can break down.

"Alright, who's not dead?" Tony's voice rang out from the air, the suit hovering in the air as he took a look around the battered landscape. Buildings were broken and on fire, the streets were covered in rubble, and there certainly wasn't a shortage of corpses. You shouldered a fraction of wood and drywall out of your way as you made it back into the open from where you'd ended up fighting a few of the villain of the week's henchmen, and coughed some of the dust out of your lungs.  
"Marco!" You called out, waving a hand over your head to make sure you were seen.  
From a couple of blocks away, the answering call of "Polo!" caught your attention and you smiled even though every part of your body hurt like hell. You'd won your fights, but not without sustaining some injuries, a few of which were bleeding sluggishly and staining your clothes and skin. You knew it'd hurt even worse if you stopped to think about it, and turned immediately to find blue eyes searching for your [e/c] ones, Captain Steve Rogers approaching you. You were immensely glad to see him in one piece, and you could imagine he felt the same way about you. You two had gone from best friends to cuddle buddies to dating and had been together for a couple of months now. It had always been hard for you to maintain a relationship with your..." line of work", and having someone who shared it with you had been a godsend.  
You heard answering shouts and grumbles from the other members of your group, and the distance between you and Steve was closing when a figure came bursting out the building immediately to your left. You had a split second to register what was happening, the loud sound of brick exploding outward had your ears ringing and pummeled you with rock shrapnel, delaying your reaction time and weakening the arms you threw up to fight off whatever threat was coming at you. The man in front of you threw a punch, which you were able to block, but he retaliated by grabbing your blocking arm and spinning you around, striking you hard between the shoulder blades and knocking you to the ground as you tried desperately to catch the breath that had been knocked out of you. You heard a shout nearby, made distant by the ringing in your ears, and you saw Steve reaching for the shield on his back just before everything went dark and you felt a whoosh of cold air blow past you and the man who was still holding tightly to your forearm.  
Steve stopped short as the spot you had just occupied suddenly became empty. His shield was on his arm, but he cursed the fact that it was a few moments too late. Tony landed several feet away a moment later, trying to analyze what the hell had just happened, besides, of course, the fact that you had just been teleported away by one of the more dangerous people alive. 'How' didn't matter. What mattered was that they had to get you back. He glanced from Steve's expression of anger and frustration to where Natasha was trying to rouse an unconscious Clint, the archer having fallen from quite the height, while Bruce was tending to a gash on his own arm. The team wasn't in great shape just then. "We'll get her back." He said, clapping Steve on the shoulder.  
Steve looked up then, making eye contact with Tony. He nodded once, anger replaced with something that only read as grim determination. They were going to get you back. He would make damn sure of that.  
x...x...x  
You woke up in a small, dirty, windowless room with a sort of dizzy headache that came of a night of drinking with the guys, a growling stomach, and a mouth that tasted like mud. It only took you a moment to remember what had happened-you were in the hands of the enemy at an unknown location where an unknown amount of time had passed-and snarled at whoever was behind the door when it opened. The came toward you and you tried to fight back, but strong hands held your arms tight to your sides and in your dehydrated and injured state, there wasn't much you could do to fight back. You were brought to a dimly lit room that had so many tools and instruments that shouted possibilities, and unfortunately, they weren't looking too good for you.  
x...x...x  
It had been days since they'd first chained you up, hands suspended over your head by a chain that was just long enough for your feet to touch the ground, but not long enough for you to sink to your knees. Your hands were numb, you could feel several broken bones, you were tired, you were starving, and you were starting to lose hope. For days, you'd been here. For days, you'd been tortured and told that your friends from SHIELD weren't coming to get you. For days you'd been hurt and alone, and you weren't going to lie, you were scared.  
You came groggily back to the land of the living when the man who'd kidnapped you patted you roughly on the cheek to wake you up. "Up and at 'em, sweetheart." He said the rumble in his voice makes you want to rip him apart as much as the smell of his breath made you want to vomit. "Busy day ahead of you."  
Despite how much abuse your body had taken from the instruments on the table and how much abuse your vocal cords had taken from your screaming, you still managed to spit out a venomous "Go to hell."  
He backhanded you hard across the face at the same time that a man's shout echoed down the hall. The man in front of you had his fist pulled back for another blow, but stopped to listen, looking confused. That seemed to be all of the pauses that were needed before the door exploded. The man stepped away from you, reaching for one of the weapons on the table, but he didn't get the chance to use it before he was knocked over by a flying human mass. The dust was settling and you managed to shift your head to look at the entrance into the room, and you were relieved by what you saw. Steve and Bruce were standing in the doorway, Natasha standing over the now unconscious and potentially dead man who has been about to start torturing you for what was sure to be another hellish day, ready to take out any henchmen that might appear. Steve and Bruce were at your side at another moment.  
"Y...You guys came." You murmured, sounding as stunned as you could feel with the amount of exhaustion you were under.  
Steve quickly found the shackle keys from the table and unlocked your hands, catching you and holding you gently to his chest before you could fall. "Of course we came for you, baby." He said earnestly, carefully tipping you toward Bruce so the doctor could examine you for any immediate life-threatening injuries.  
"She'll be fine until we can get back to the 'copter," Bruce said after he checked your pulse and ran his hands over you quickly to check your main vulnerable points, then turning his attention back to Steve. "We shouldn't stick around as long as we can avoid it."  
Steve nodded curtly and felt you relax in his arms, fingers scrabbling for purchase in the front of his uniform as you registered what was happening. "Shh, shh," he soothed, standing carefully with you in his arms. "It's alright. You're safe now."  
You broke down sobbing somewhere between there and the helicopter that was to take you home, and Steve thanked whatever God was listening that the four of you made it out without any further incident. He could tell you were trying to stay as quiet as possible, but the shield you'd been holding up for the past several days was crumbling down once it wasn't needed any more, and he tipped his forehead carefully against yours once it became clear that the four of you were home free. "It's okay, Viditi. I'm here. I'll never let you go again."  
Steve woke up in the middle of the night and blinked a few times before rolling over with a sleepy grumble, opening his eyes when his arms didn't fall over your warm, sleeping form. You weren't there. He was alone in the dark silence, something that he'd been waking up to more often since your kidnapping. He sat up with a big yawn, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he tried to guess where you would probably be this time. It wasn't unusual for him to find you tucked into random corners of Stark Tower, sometimes in places he couldn't even begin to guess how you'd gotten there, but he always came to get you. He wouldn't even dream of making you do this alone.  
In the end, it was the noises coming from the gym that got his attention. He opened the door silently, and his eyes locked on where you were standing with your back to him. Your fists landed relentlessly on the punching bag, but the way you were slumped slightly to one side and the somewhat erratic pattern of the blows exposed how tired you really were. With every strike, you let out a short, miserable noise punctuated by the sharp, ragged breaths that came of sobbing and working yourself to exhaustion for who knew how long. He let out a harsh breath, feeling his heartbreak watching you go through this kind of pain. He didn't know what he could do to help you. It wasn't new to him by any means—he'd been to war, and he'd known enough prisoners of war and men who were so traumatized by the violence that they became completely different people—but that didn't make it any easier to watch you.  
He padded barefoot across the floor and wrapped his arms around you, feeling you startle under him and cursing himself for accidentally sneaking up on you. You whirled around and threw the next punch that was meant for the punching bag directly into his torso, but you were so fatigued that it didn't hurt at all. The fact that you were so completely drained almost hurt him more than an actual punch would have. Your face was streaked with tears when you looked up at him, a flash of recognition crossing your features before your expression crumbled entirely. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." You started quickly, your words and your breath coming in short bursts as you tried to control your sobbing. "I didn't know it was you. I didn't mean to—"  
He pulled you in close to his chest and wrapped his arms around you, holding you just a bit tighter when he realized that he could feel you trembling. "Shh. Don't worry about it." He murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.  
You burst into full-on sobbing, crying into his chest. "I…I don't want to…I need to be stronger." Your words were barely coherent because of your crying, and he started softly rubbing your back, holding you close and letting you cry yourself out. "If I was just a little stronger, then that asshole wouldn't have gotten me and I would've been able to fight him off. I should've been able to—"  
"Hey, hey, hey." He interrupted you again, pulling away just enough so he could look you in the eye. "You are one of the strongest people I have ever met, and what happened to you isn't your fault. You understand me?" He asked gently. You took a big shuddering breath and nodded almost reluctantly, laying your head against his chest again and taking comfort in his solid warmth. If Captain freaking America thought that you were strong enough, could you really argue with him? You were a little light-headed from exhaustion and felt yourself leaning more on him to hold yourself up the longer you stood there, and he let you. After a few more moments, when you could feel slowly being lulled to sleep by the steady beat of his heart, he moved to kiss you on the forehead. "Come back to bed with me, Viditi." He said softly, his concern audible.  
You nodded again. "Yeah. And…thanks, Steve."  
He smiled. "Of course."  
He guided you back to the bedroom you two shared and crawled into bed next to you, tucking you snugly against him and throwing an arm and a leg over you as if physically shielding you from the nightmares you'd been trying to keep at bay with his body. "I love you, Viditi. I'm glad we got you home safe. We'll figure the rest out together, I promise."  
You could only respond with a sleepy mumble, already drifting off, feeling safe in the arms of the man who you knew would do his best to protect you. Once your breathing had steadied, becoming deep and even, Steve allowed himself to fall back asleep. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.


	9. Rescuing the kitten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why would someone throw a feline away?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys sorry for the late update.   
> REQUESTS ARE OPEN

Strumming his fingers on the steering wheel, Bucky sang along to the music blaring from the speakers, “everything means nothing if I can’t have you”. Bucky glances at the bright pink post-it note attached to the dashboard, _only get what's on the list Bucky._ He touches the little heart you drew by his name, an image of your face flashing in his mind. 

_“Bucky, we have no more room”, you laugh helping him unload the truck. You knew better than to leave him alone at that flea market. Your boyfriend has many talents, can strategize with the best of them, but he can not turn down a deal. The little grannies at the market love him and are constantly giving him specials. You teased him about that once, the joke about him making a good sugar baby flying right over his head._

_“You want me to put these tools by the other set of tools in the garage”, you emphasize the word tools as you pick up the bag out of the back._

_Bucky pauses, his hands full of random knick-knacks, a sheepish grin on his handsome face. Rolling your eyes, you lean up and kiss him before setting his old but new to him set of tools in the garage. You leave the bag unopened knowing he likes to have things a certain way, stepping back you survey the wooden shelves on the side of the wall. All loaded with his treasures, you laugh softly to yourself, seeing maybe a teeny space on the third shelf._

_When you turn around, he’s holding a locket on a delicate lace gold chain. Your eyes flicker between him and the necklace held in his vibranium hand, the shiny black metal making the gold shine bright in the fading light coming through the open garage door._

_“We used to give these to our best girls whenever we would leave for…”, he swallows, a tinge of sadness creeping into his eyes, his gaze drifting away from you._

_Your heart flutters and twists in your chest, you wait patiently for him to come back to you, reaching out when his eyes focus on you, “when we would leave so that they would never forget us”, he grins, a hopeful twitch of his lips, his eyes softening when you return his smile._

_He steps closer to you, the gentle thud of his combat boots matching the pounding of your heart. He stops in front of you, the tips of his boots touching your shoes, his chest grazing yours. The heat from his body warding off the chill from the garage, he takes your chin, his deep ocean eyes staring into yours, “I promise to always come back to you”._

_You open your mouth, your eyes fluttering shut when his lips gently press into yours. “I promise to always love you and I know I don’t deserve you”. Another loving kiss, swallowing your protests, his hands cradle your head, pulling you in closer. You wrap your arms around his neck, letting him deepen the kiss when he pulls away you’re breathless._

_“And I know what you were going to say,” he murmurs, resting his forehead on yours, “but I don’t deserve someone as perfect as you, but I will earn every last ounce of your love, I will spend my life being the man you need and want”._

_You startle at the feel of the cool metal settling around your neck, looking down at the locket resting between your breasts. He carefully opens the locket, on the left is his army picture, on the right is the picture from your first date, one of your favourites, his face relaxed, caught mid-laugh, slight wrinkles around his blue eyes lit up with such joy that it makes your heart race even after all this time._

_. “And one day, I’m going to give you a different kind of jewellery and I’ll hope you say yes”, he rushes out the last part so quickly, it takes a second before you understand._

_His eyes downcast, his black and gold fingers quivering almost unnoticeably as he traces the outside of the locket. You cup his face, “Bucky if you ask me right now, I would already be in a gown before you finished your question”, you giggle. When his eyes snap up to yours, you lean into him, “matter of fact, I would marry you right here in the garage under your tools okay”._

_Bucky takes a deep breath, a weight lifting off of his chest. He’s never wanted anything more than you right now. “I love you”._

_You smile up at him, “And I love you, James Bu-”._

A blaring horn snaps Bucky back to the present, steering his truck back into the lane. He slows down, another car swerves around him. A brown box tumbles out of the window, the car speeding down the highway. 

Bucky looks over at the box, his brow furrowing when he spots it rock on to its side, a flash of white emerging at the top before disappearing. Looking in his rearview mirror, he swears he sees it again. He pulls over to the side, turning off his truck. Stepping out he jogs down the stretch of road, he can hear thin, high meows. 

Crouching down by the box, he spots a pair of big pale blue eyes surrounded by white fluff staring at him; the kitten trying to climb up the side of the box, falling over onto his back. Another small cry as the kitten rights himself, stumbling over to the side where Bucky, his tail twitching back and forth. 

Bucky swallows his rage at that thought that this helpless little creature was tossed on the road like trash. Too bad for that person, he has their license plate memorized, but he can deal with them later. He scoops the small kitten up, grinning when he nuzzles his hand with a hesitant purr, his eyes drifting shut. “I got you, pal”, he says. “We’re gonna take good care of you”. 

Walking back to the trunk, Bucky spots the mountains in the distance, looking at the sleeping feline, a word pops in his head, “You look like an Alpine, what do you think”, he smiles at the ball of fur settled in his large hand, “Yeah I agree, Alpine it is”. 

Climbing back into the truck, he gently places the cat on his lap, “Okay, so we should stop by the store, you’re gonna a lot of stuff, then we’ll surprise our girl”. Bucky takes off, telling Alpine about his new house and how he can defend himself from attackers. By the time he reaches the pet store, he’s educated the sleepy kitten on the 14 effective ways to take down a man with his claws. 

One brief shopping trip later, he’s walking out with a shopping car full of cat supplies and a curious Alpine climbing on his head. During the drive back, he’s almost home when he spots that little pink post-it note. Looking down at Alpine nuzzling his chest, Bucky sighs, “Listen I need you to be extra cute okay, she’s a huge softie for that, only reason why I get away with anything, so best behaviour or look cute”. 

Bucky lets the wild little kitten claw its way up to his shoulder, his wet nose nudging his cheek before he falls asleep, his soft purrs rumbling against his neck. “She’s gonna love you”. 

You’re laying on the couch playing with your phone when Bucky walks before you can greet him, a blur of white lands on your belly. You glance between the kitten kneading its paws into your stomach and your boyfriend with multiple bags on his arms. Tilting your head, you smirk at him, “Whats-”. 

Bucky takes a deep breath, launching into a well-rehearsed explanation of what happened, all it takes is he was in the middle of the road and you stop him. 

“What’s our baby’s name?”. 

Bucky laughs, “Uh, Alpine”, dropping the bags on the floor, he steps over the couch, kneeling beside you. You play with his hair, holding back a laugh when he rubs his head into your hand, acting much like the kitten on your stomach. 

Looking past his shoulder, you raise a brow at the bags by the door, “Honey, please tell me that’s all the stuff you bought for him”. 

Bucky looks down at the locket on your chest, then back up at your face and deliberately widens his eyes. 

“Bucky”.


End file.
